Monday, June 13, 2011

Some of you may recall that earlier this year I blogged about the Tokyo Quilt Festival I attended this year. I blogged about it here and here. It was amazing to be able to go there and to share with you my experience there. Well, I am definitely going back there in January next year. Since I will be living MUCH closer to the Tokyo Dome, where the festival takes place every year, I might, in fact, I WILL probably be able to visit there a few times next year so that I won't miss anything, hopefully, hehe.

Each year the Tokyo Quilt Festival exhibits lots of Partnership Quilts, which are made by quilt blocks submitted by everyone. A theme for partnership quilts is set by a popular Japanese quilter/textile designer annually, and she will put all blocks submitted into groups. Folks there will piece all blocks and make them into quilts accordingly.

2011's theme was "Flower" and there were 10,344 blocks submitted total from all over the world. Under supervision of Yoko Saito, an author of many Japanese sewing books, those blocks turned into 86 quilts to be exhibited at the festival. They did a great job on putting similar blocks together and I so enjoyed seeing many flower themed quilts there.

I'd like to invite ALL of you to participate in this for next year. I am especially excited about next year's partnership quilts, because my super quilting hero Suzuko Koseki, an author of these awesome sewing books, will be a supervisor.

What is the theme?

Triangles and squares. This doesn't mean your block needs to consist of perfect triangles and squares. Half triangles, rectangles, etc are all good.

1) Your name written by a permanent pen at the right bottom corner on the seam of your block.2) A piece of paper with your info - Your message, your name, address, and phone number.

How many blocks can I submit?

One per person. If you are sending blocks as a group or a family, limit 5 blocks. And remember to include a piece of paper with personal info for EACH block. Also, even if you send several blocks together, these blocks may not be in the same quilt.

What's the technique we can use?

Any :) Machine or hand-sewing, paper-piecing, applique, embroidery. Just keep in mind that your block will be quilted so I would avoid attaching a giant metal piece or anything like that.

Does my block need to be original?

Not at all! Go ahead and pick your favorite quit pattern from your book. And of course you have free reign to come up with your own blocks design.

Is there any requirements on colors or types of fabrics?

Not at all! Use fabric you want and pick the colors you want.

Do I have to be an experienced quilter to join this?

Not at all! The youngest participant this year was a 2 year old!

Can I see the quilt my block is in?

Absolutely! If you can join this flickr group and post a picture of your block, I will do my best to look for your block at the festival and take pictures of the quilt to share with you all on my blog and in the flickr pool.

When will the 2012 quilt festival be held?

Sometime in January next year. The specific dates are undecided,but I am assuming it will be about 10 days in late January.

What happens to the quilts after the festival is over.

They will be sold for charity purposes at the end of the last day to help the victims of the earthquake.

When's the deadline?

August 31, 2011. Your blocks must arrive by this date. If you are going to use the USPS first class international mail to send your block from the U.S., I would suggest that you send it by August 10th.

this is so exciting Ayumi!! Thank you so much for explaining and translating, I looked at the partnership site but all I got from that was a pretty flower. I joined the Flickr group and I will have a go at making a block. I'll have to think long and hard about it first though :-)

this sounds like so much fun and what an honor to have a block in a quilt at the toyko quilt show!! and to have them auctioned off at the end is the frosting on the cake. thanks for doing this ayumiiamchickenfoot at yahoo dot com

Hi, new to comment but have been visiting your wonderful blog quite regularly! I have a small sewing club here in Bangkok, Thailand and I will mention this to my friends and send our blocks in too! Thanks so much for sharing and LOVE your blog!!! Please drop me an email if you ever are in Bangkok too!

I am so happy I saw this- I am going to make a block! Your instructions are great! Good luck with your move! We are moving, too, but not to another country...none the less it is very stressful...what to keep? what to give away? We are downsizing A LOT! It is good to clear things out!

I'm an Oklahoman... experienced tornados and disasters... so to give to another country's effort would be great..... Shall I pull my ruler and calculator to find inches of block size... or will somebody reply (smile.... thanks...lol)

I've just found your post today via the blogger reader (have fallen behind in my reading!) and would love to take part from Perth Western Australia. I've also emailed your link to my children's school to see if they'd like to take part as they teach Japanese there, and have a lot of Japanese students :)

BTW have you come across this quilty/stitchy request at all... http://www.quilts4london.org.uk/ ... my daughter's Girl Guide unit is going to take part which is really exciting..

Thanks for stopping by my blog! My name is Ayumi. I love sharing my crafty journal and other little anecdotes in my life here. I am a mother to a baby girl and a wife to my husband from Seattle. We live in a small apartment in Tokyo. I hope you enjoy being here :) Welcome♪